I am curious about what other teams do prior to sending their robot out for a match, or what they do once a match is over.
We normally bring our robot back and do both an electrical check and a mechanical check of all our sytems, regardless if we used them in the match. We have two pit teams, electrical and mechanical. Each with their own checklist. If a problem is found, only designated pit members are allowed to repair the robot. Everyone else MUST leave the pit area.
We do this for a number of reasons, but most importantly to minimize the ‘panic attack’ if something were to go wrong.
I bring this up because I see way too many teams, when in the pit making repairs, out of control. I think more teams ought to adopt some sort of ‘Pit Policy’, to eliminate making a bad situation worse because of panic.
last year on team 95 we did the same thing we brought the robot back and did a cheack list.
but we didn’t have two pit teams we had one, it was about 4 team members that knew the best about the robot in each area, and one of them was named the pit crew cheif, he made sure that made sure every thing was done right. if we needed help fixing the robot we would have a choach come and help use.
i tried to get somthing like your pit policy, but coulded.
but i dont know what they do this year. i handed it over to some one else.
I believe in NYC we played a match where nothing broke… we were clueless on what to do… I think we tensioned chains.
Pit crews can work, and they can’t work. I feel everyone who wants to be involved in the pit should be. Luckly in my team it came down to who WANTS to be in the pit, nah we weren’t stressed. Our 130 pound robot (after removals) and malfunctioning goal gripper was lots of fun.
Here is what life is like in the MOE pit (hopefully it won’f be like this at nats)
1 Fix wings
2 Keep fixing wings
3 fix wings some more
4 make sure everyting works (if time allows)
5 get into line
6 set up robot
7 play match
8 repeat steps 1-7
The first thing we after getting the robot back to our pit is try to identify what broke, usually the bearings were popping out. Then we attempt to fix the problem usually by wedging a piece of wood and thin strips of metal against the bearings. Then the battery gets replaced with the one we had charging. Then we pull the harpoon up, and build up some pneumatic pressure. At this point, they have already made the final call for our robot, so we begin the 60 yard dash to the line, where we continue to try to fix anything broken.
We actually have a sturdy 'bot, so we’re not always doing repair jobs and the like. But this is usually the routine:
Before a match:
Run a systems check to determine if both drives can move easily and the goal grabber… grabs.
IF (systemscheck == good)
{
2) Sit around for 10 or 15 minutes because we did the check
far too soon.
}
else
{
2) Scramble like mad to tighten things, crimp things, electrical
tape things, and wire-tie things to state of functionality
}
After a match:
Pick up the panels that have fallen off the robot and onto the field. Try to rub off the tire marks left by other robots driving over them repeatedly. Replace panels by leaning them against the robot and velcroing them back down.
Call down our engineer and reassure him by saying “The drive train still works, no chains popped, the motors are cooling, everything will be all right”
Run another systems check and fix whatever electrical problems we might have. Mechanical has never broken down (goal grabber and the motor mounts/chains/motors themselves have never needed serious adjustment)
That’s about it. The only serious problem we’ve ever had was our left drive random stopped working electrically one match, and when we took it back to the pits we found 3 different reasons the circuit couldn’t complete on it (PWM cable, victor-to-plug wire, plug-to-motor wire).
We mostly just check all of the connections and stuff (pneumatics, speed controllers, etc). Then before the next match we tether up the robot and make sure everything is functional…
Inspect for damage and repair and “tweak” if necessary
Tether the machine and:
2a) Place machine in proper gear for next match and make sure transmissions are engaged
2b) Reset goal grabber to “start” position (angled up so robot will be <36 inches long)
2c) Reset ball basket
Change battery and put previously used battery on charge
Check switches on operator interface for proper position for start of match
Repeat 1, above
While in line for next match the following usually occur:
Tether machine and check battery voltage reading to double or triple check that we have installed a fully charged battery
Recheck settings of operator controls
I’ve probably forgotten something, but this is pretty much what we do between matches.
at the first regional, while we still are selecting our drivers, the coach, whether it is andy b or someone else, goes through and does a post match analysis, it has multiple factors like “Ability to follow commands” and stuff like that. Then your are commented and rated. After the drive team and HP are rated, the students go through and rate the coach and how well he did.
*Originally posted by D.J. Fluck *
**at the first regional, while we still are selecting our drivers, the coach, whether it is andy b or someone else, goes through and does a post match analysis, it has multiple factors like “Ability to follow commands” and stuff like that. Then your are commented and rated. After the drive team and HP are rated, the students go through and rate the coach and how well he did. **
As DJ stated, we evaluate our drivers and coach (coaches back when I was one.) We also evaluate the operation of the robot, including the drive train, the ball collection system, and the goal grabber. Andy came up with a form for doing this two or three years ago, and it has worked well.
*Originally posted by Mark_lyons *
**Interesting… First of all, are your coaches adults or students? Does your coach have any specific responsibility during a match? If so, what are they? **
There are varied opinions on whether coaches should be adults or students, but our coaches have always been adults. This year our coach, and lead engineer is Andy Baker.
Our ultimate goal would be for the coach to say nothing during a match, except to maybe count down time for a last-second return to our end zone. In reality, with the help of the human player who helps keep track of the score, the coach makes strategy decisions during matches and gives instructions accordingly. As the season progresses, more and more of these decisions fall on the drivers. Am I stating this correctly, Andy.
During three of the years that we had two coaches, I was “driver/operator coach” and was mainly responsible for watching the performance of our robot and giving instructions related to performance issues with the robot. Part of my job was also to work with the drivers in making sure the robot was “ready to go” at the start of the match.
Also, as sort of “captain of the ship,” part of our coach’s job is to take responsibility if something goes wrong during a match. We try very hard to avoid situations where a student driver is “blamed” for mistakes made during a match.
Our coach is ALWAYS a student, we never felt the need for an adult, and in my experience they cause they most of the problems on the field (yes, I know not all adult coaches do this, but in general they create issues) If you do have an adult coach they should work well with kids and have enough respect for the kids to listen to them, you’ll often run into the “well, I’m more experienced so you’ll do what I say” when a student may have a better idea.
*Originally posted by Mark_lyons *
**Interesting… First of all, are your coaches adults or students? Does your coach have any specific responsibility during a match? If so, what are they? **
Our coaches have been and always will be students. This year we have a guy devoted entirely to scouting and coaching - he spends all of Thursdays scouting other teams at practice and getting their strengths and weaknesses. Then he transfers his database on all the teams he’s seen to someone else equally competent for modifications on Friday, while coaching off of his old database to me (the driver). After each match we play, he synchronizes his database with the person in the stands’, and we start over.
Since our robot is simply designed, our secondary controller only has to work two buttons (one to turn off the compressor’s automatic cycles and one for the goal grabber), and therefore the job can pass between team members. We have 3 or 4 good shooters, so they rotate as well. Thomas (our coach) and I usually visit our alliance partners’ team normally 20 to 30 minutes in advance to coordinate what we’re going to do, get the most up-to-date scouting we can about the people we’re paired against, and talk strategy from the 15 minute mark down. Thomas then keeps track of the overall gameplan in his head, I keep track of what our robot has to do in my head, and we work together with the other team through the match.
We’ve never seen a need for adults to be our mentors in a match, and they’ve never seen the need either. They’re content to be teachers and let us learn on our own sometimes.
As a Member of the Elite MOE Pit hehe… i can say that the first thing we do is run around and find out what went wrong, if anything, and then we prioritize quickly, we have a small team work on each area, mainly our wings(each side). we would basically replace and repair each damaged component after each match, and, i think i’m entitled to brag that we constructed an almost entirely new wing after one match in which we had a bit of a problem. after we fixed/replaced our stuff, we would reset our pneumatic systems and release our various braking systems so we could move at the beginning of the next match. and last, but certainly not least, we’d get a fresh battery, and arrive to the queing area fashionably late, and just on time to not be disqualified.
Dave- the self-proclaimed best student hack-sawer on 365…
Insanity is relative.
“Like olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else.”
-Catch 22
